Friday, March 11, 2016

It's 9:30 am and things are underway to start another busy weekend. I have a meat-lovers pasta sauce cooking on the stove. My youngest wants lasagne for his birthday dinner coming up in a couple weeks so I am getting a head start. He also wants a white chocolate and key lime mousse cake (Paula Deen's) . So today I'll make a meat lasagne, later I'll make a vegetarian.

My older son was sick for a couple days so stayed home from school. He had a fever of 101. So yesterday I ended up doing some housework and making banana muffins. I may have mentioned before, I have a banana intolerance so it is the only muffin I make from a box. Of course, I bump up the nutrition by adding extra banana, ground flaxseeds and oat bran.

Now, while the sauce is simmering, am just catching up on the laundry - the job that never ends. My boys are staying for lunch, so will probably do some errands this afternoon.

Spring fever has hit the prairie as some above average temps forecast for the weekend. We are planning to drive up to the cottage, just to see how it wintered. In the morning Danny was invited to the finals in a Knights of Columbus free throw competition. We will end up having lunch in the car, what we call a car picnic. I think I'll assemble that today. We have a very quick turnaround between basketball and road trip.

New recipe for dinner. I found it on Pinterest . Cilantro Honey Salmon with steamed broccoli and cauliflower and baked potatoes. (Mine is a sweet potato)

Thursday, February 25, 2016

I am addicted to food documentaries. It's true. I've seen HBO's Weight of the Nation, Fed Up, The Skinny on Obesity, Food Inc, Sick Fat and Nearly Dead, Supersize Me, Food Matters and countless others. The one that shook me up was Vegecated on Netflix. Be warned - not for the faint of heart.

Now armed with more information and more enlightened, and with the constant goal of lowering my family's food cost I decided we as a family would eat less meat. So for the last couple weeks our weeknight dinners have been meat free, with the exception of fish. I guess that would make us Weeknight Pesco Vegetarian. 😃

One of the first things I did was look of recipes similar to what I was already making. Cookbooks, Pinterest and a call out on social media gave me a place to start. The next thing was to arm my pantry and freezer . I made vegetable stock, cooked/ froze beans and cooked, puréed and froze sweet potatoes. I also started to integrate almond milk into our diets.

As a life long carnivore, the concept of vegetarianism seemed foreign. The more health experts you listen to, and the more information I gather, the more I believe that the healthier way to eat is through a Whole Food Plant Based diet. I think if I never cooked meat again my family would be in an uproar. So for now, we will continue the meatless Monday to Friday and save the steaks and burgers for the weekends.

Today I brought out the slow cooker to make a Corn and Black Bean Soup; a variation of a recipe given to me by my friend Andrea and one I found on Pinterest by theveganchef.com.

Corn and Black Bean Soup

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 - 3 cups vegetable broth

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1 small can diced green chilies

1 green pepper, seeded and diced

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

1 cup cooked black beans

1 cup corn kernels

1/2 cup puréed sweet potato

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp chipotle chilli powder

(I also added finely chopped kale - but don't tell my family)

Cook on the slow cooker 6-8 hours on low. Finish with the juice and zest of a lime and chopped fresh cilantro.